Facebook Ads for Small Business: Are They Worth It?

Finding the right way to reach customers is key for businesses to grow, and many of them use Facebook ads to do it. But do Facebook ads work for small businesses?

 

Let's answer this question and explore how Facebook ads can be effective for small businesses looking to boost their online presence, connect with customers, and drive sales.

 

Key statistics that prove that Facebook ads are still effective

First of all, Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most popular platforms not just in the US or Western hemisphere but in the world as well. For instance, there are many non-Western countries with a high audience reach for Facebook ads, which shows that no matter where your business is located, you have a great chance of discovering your customers on Facebook and making your business more visible.

The number of Facebook’s montly active users is still growing despite the competition from other popular platforms. Source: Stacy Jo Dixon on Statista

 

Moreover, most businesses have a presence on Facebook that allows them to achieve their marketing and advertising goals. Back in 2020, there were more than 10 million of active advertisers on Facebook, and according to Facebook’s COO, more than 200 million businesses use Facebook apps to reach their customers.

 

Here’s another fact in favor of using Facebook ads for small business advertising: Meta is the leading platform for social commerce. It’s not only Instagram that is responsible for this – Facebook Marketplace also plays a huge role in driving social commerce sales.

 

Also, Facebook remains the top choice for many marketers as it provides a higher ROI than other platforms and offers plenty of opportunities for building communities. Meta also continues to keep up with the innovations, introducing AI-advertising solutions that can help businesses get even better results from their ad campaigns.

Source: Hubspot

 

In short, there are plenty of facts that demonstrate the effectiveness of Facebook ads for all kinds of advertisers. Now, let’s get more specific and consider what exactly makes Facebook advertising useful for small businesses.

 

Why are Facebook ads worth it for small businesses?

Here are the main benefits of Facebook ads for small businesses:

 

1. Targeted advertising

Facebook offers a lot of targeting options to help small businesses show their ads to the right people:

1. Demographics: this includes factors like age, gender, education, job title, relationship status, and more. It helps you reach people based on their personal characteristics.
2. Interests: you can also target people based on their interests, hobbies, and activities they engage with on the platform. This could include pages they like, topics they discuss, or events they attend.
3. Behaviors: this is targeting based on actions people take both on and off Facebook. It includes behaviors such as purchasing behavior, device usage, travel patterns, and more.
4. Location: you can target people based on their location, whether it's a specific country, city, or even a radius around a particular area. This is useful for local businesses targeting a specific geographic area.
5. Connections: this option lets you target people based on their connections to your Facebook Page, app, or events. You can reach people who have liked your Page, engaged with your app, or responded to your events.

Besides these targeting options, you can also use lookalike audiences for discovering new customers similar to your existing ones, or leverage custom audiences for targeting people who’ve already interacted with your business. Using these options can help you reach users who are likely to be interested in what you offer, increasing the chances of conversion.

 

2. Cost-effeciency

Even though Facebook ads’ costs can vary a lot based on the industry and fluctuate throughout the year, it is still one of the most profitable platforms for advertisers in terms of ROI as we’ve shown earlier. The average Facebook ads CPC looks pretty good, being lower than $1 for most industries. Also, ad costs vary based on the country, which means that you can enjoy lower costs of advertising depending on where your business is based. 

 

Another important thing to note here is that Facebook allows you to set your own budget and bid strategy to control your spending and maximize your return on investment. By using the right options, you can make sure that you never go above your budget limits and get the results at optimal costs. If you want to know more about the costs of Facebook advertising, read one of our previous articles to learn about what affects Facebook ads costs and how to reduce them.

 

3. Measurable results and the ability to optimize your ads

With Facebook Ads Manager, you get access to a wide range of tools to measure ad performance and optimize your ads for better results.

Facebook Ads Manager is one of the basic tools you need to use for running your Facebook ads. 

 

Here's what Facebook Ads Manager has to offer to advertisers:

• Performance metrics: there are a variety of performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), conversions, and more that you can track in your Ads Manager.
• Customizable reports: you can create customized reports in your Ads Manager to analyze ad performance based on specific KPIs and timeframes that make sense for your campaigns.
• Split testing features: Ads Manager also allows you to conduct A/B tests to compare different versions of your ads and determine which ones perform best.
• Budget optimization options: you can set budgets and bidding strategies in your Ads Manager to control your spending and get the best results within your budget limits.
• Automated rules: you can also set up automated rules to optimize Facebook ad performance. For example, you can automatically increase or decrease ad budgets based on your chosen KPIs, schedule ads to run at optimal times, or pause underperforming ads.

Overall, Facebook Ads Manager can help you measure the results of your ads, identify areas for improvement, and optimize your campaigns to achieve specific advertising goals.

 

4. Flexibility and versatility

Customers’ preferences constantly change, which means you should strive to adapt your ad campaigns to them to deliver the best experiences and communicate your offers effectively.

 

Facebook offers a variety of ad formats tailored to different advertising objectives and target audiences. These include:

 

• Image ads: these simple single-image ads are ideal for visually showcasing your products or services.
• Video ads: these dynamic and attention-grabbing ads are perfect for conveying your messages effectively and showing your products in more detail.
• Carousel ads: this ad format helps businesses display multiple images or videos in a single ad to highlight the variety of products or features that they have.
• Slideshow ads: this is an affordable alternative to video ads which combines images, text, and sound in a video-like format.
• Collection ads: this ad format is designed for mobile browsing and allows users to browse and shop for products within the ad itself.

With such a variety of ad formats available, you have the flexibility to experiment and choose the formats and placements that fit your target audience and advertising goals. Whether your goal is to drive website traffic, generate leads, increase brand awareness, or boost sales, Facebook offers your small business all the tools you need to create and run successful ad campaigns.

 

5. Opportunity to sell your products

Facebook allows you to not only advertise your small business and connect with your target audience, but also sell your products on the platform through Facebook Marketplace.

 

By listing your offerings on Marketplace, you can increase your brand’s visibility among local customers and drive sales. And since Marketplace is integrated with Facebook, you can easily connect with users who may already be familiar with your brand or products, which makes it a convenient and effective advertising channel for reaching the right audience. 

In short, Facebook Marketplace can help you interact with your customers directly and transparently, build trust and credibility for your business, increase the chances of spontaneous purchases thanks to high mobile Facebook usage rates, and benefit from word-of-mouth marketing and organic referrals from satisfied customers.

 

Overall, there are multiple benefits to using Facebook ads for small businesses in terms of reaching the right audience segments, driving conversions, and increasing brand visibility. If now you’re convinced that Facebook ads are something you should try for your business, it’s time to learn about the specific strategies that can help you run successful Facebook ad campaigns.

 

Facebook ads for small businesses: top strategies

Like other advertising platforms, Facebook requires some effort on your part – there are things you should do if you want to get good results and spend your ad budget as efficiently as possible.

 

Here are some small business advertising strategies you can use for your Facebook ads:

 

1. Research your target audience

You can follow these steps to effectively research the audience for your Facebook ads: 

• Analyze your existing customers: look at your current customer base to understand their demographics, interests, and behaviors. This helps you identify common characteristics among the most profitable audience segments and create personalized ad campaigns.
• Use Facebook insights: use Facebook Insights to gain insights into your Page's audience demographics and interests. This data can help you tailor both your ads and organic content to what your customers like.
• Conduct surveys: you can also use online surveys or polls to gather feedback directly from your audience. Ask questions about their preferences, interests, problems, and shopping habits to better understand their needs.
• Study competitors: analyze your competitors' Facebook Pages and ads (on Meta Ads Library) to identify the strategies they use to attract potential customers. Once you figure this out, you can use these insights in your own campaigns.
• Utilize website analytics: if you have a website for your business, analyze website traffic and user behavior using tools like Google Analytics. Check which content attracts the most visitors, what actions they take on your website, and what they share in common. Meta Pixel will also help you track user behavior on your website and run retargeting campaigns based on customer data.
• Engage with followers: if your business has a Facebook page, regularly engage with your audience there to create closer relationships with them. Monitor comments, messages, and feedback to gain insights into their preferences and interests.

By conducting thorough audience research, small businesses can create more targeted and effective Facebook ads that resonate with their target audience and drive desired outcomes.

 

2. Try location targeting

Facebook advertising is one of the best options for local businesses to promote their products and services to customers in their vicinity. Facebook allows you to target users in specific countries, regions, cities, or even precise locations. You can also target people who are visiting or traveling to a certain area, which helps you reach potential customers even if they’re not from there.

 

Location targeting can be useful for small businesses for these reasons:

• You can show different offers for different locations, making your ads more relevant;
• You can personalize your ad messaging based on location;
• You can target users who visit stores or locations related to your business (e.g. your competitors’ stores);
• You can reach people who attend a specific local event.

Also, when running ads for specific locations, don’t forget to tailor your ad creatives and copies: you can mention the location in your ads to make them even more relevant and let people know about your business.

 

3. Run Messenger ads

Facebook’s research shows that users are more likely to purchase from businesses they can message. And what might be even more important for small businesses outside of the US and Europe, customers in developing mobile markets are 2.4 times more likely to message businesses compared to more mature markets. Thus, it’s a great opportunity for local businesses to let their customers reach them in the most convenient way and use that to generate more sales.

That’s why it might be a good idea to run Facebook Messenger ads for your small business. These ads can be displayed on Facebook, Instagram, or the Messenger app, and once users click on them, they’ll be able to start a conversation with your business. For better results, you can use an AI chatbot to automatically reply to the most common questions or provide basic assistance, and let your customer service team handle the conversations that require human input.

 

4. Get a Meta Pixel

Another thing you can benefit a lot from is using Meta Pixel on your website if your Facebook ads will lead people there.

 

Here's why:

• Tracking user behavior: Meta Pixel helps you see what actions people take after they see your ads. This could be buying something, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.
• Improving your ads: with Meta Pixel, you can change your ads based on what people do on your website. For example, if people seem to like one of your products, you can show them more ads for that product.
• Showing ads to the right people: Meta Pixel lets you show ads to people who have already been to your website or done certain things there. This can make them more likely to buy something if you provide additional incentives to convert. 
• Improving your website: by tracking what pages people look at on your website, Meta Pixel helps you see how they decide to buy things. This can help you make your website better and provide a smooth purchasing process for users.
• Finding more customers: Meta Pixel allows you to create custom audiences that include people who’ve taken certain actions on your website, e.g., bought something. You can create lookalike audiences based on these customer segments to reach more people who might be interested in what you sell.

Overall, Meta Pixel is a handy tool for any small business advertising on Facebook because it helps to see what advertising strategies work better, reach the right people, and get better results from Facebook ad campaigns.

 

5. Set an ad schedule

Scheduling your Facebook ads can help you ensure that they are shown at optimal times when your target audience is most active. By scheduling your ads to appear during peak engagement hours, you can increase the likelihood of getting clicks and conversions. Additionally, you can plan your advertising campaigns more effectively, making sure that your ads have consistent visibility over a specified period.

 

Ad scheduling can also be very helpful for local businesses. For example, a local bakery can run Facebook ads to promote their freshly baked goods. A business like this can schedule their ads to run at specific times when their target audience is most likely to be hungry and looking for a treat, e.g. during the morning hours before work or in the evening when it’s time to get a post-dinner dessert.

 

This approach can help small businesses maximize their advertising budget by avoiding wasted impressions during off-peak times and get higher click-through rates, more website visits, and sales.

 

6. Create relevant and engaging ads

Creating ads that are not only relevant to your potential customers but also make them want to click and interact with your business is crucial for running successful ad campaigns.

There are many ways to create successful Facebook ads for a small business, but ad creatives play the most important role in making customers want to click. 

 

Here are some tips that can help you:

• Know your audience: understand who your target audience is, including their demographics, interests, and pain points.
• Tailor your ad creatives: create ads that speak directly to your audience's needs, preferences, and aspirations.
• Use compelling visuals: incorporate eye-catching images or videos that grab attention and convey your message effectively.
• Highlight the benefits: outline the benefits of your product or service and why it should matter to your audience in your ads to make them click and buy from you. 
• Keep it concise: make your ad copy concise and to the point, focusing on delivering the most important information in just a few words. 
• Add a fitting Call to Action (CTA): prompt users to take the desired action with a clear and persuasive CTA based on the campaign objective.
• Test different ad creatives: experiment with different ad formats and creatives to see what resonates best with your audience. Check out our article to learn more about A/B testing your ads.
• Incorporate social proof: include positive reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content in your ads to build trust and credibility with your audience.
• Create a sense of urgency: use time-limited offers or promotions to encourage users to take action quickly.
• Analyze and optimize: regularly review ad performance metrics in your Ads Manager and make the necessary adjustments to optimize your campaigns for better results over time.

By focusing on these aspects, you can create ads that speak to your target audience, drive the desired actions, and help you build a recognizable image for your small business.

 

Recap

So, do Facebook ads work for small businesses and are they worth it? The short answer is yes. 

 

Facebook ads can be great for small businesses and are usually worth the money. Here's why:

1. You can show your ads to specific groups of people who are likely to be interested in your offers.
2. You can reach a wide audience and increase brand awareness.
3. Facebook ads are not too expensive, and you can control how much you spend.
4. You can see how well your ads are doing in real-time and optimize them if needed.
5. You can create different kinds of ads and show them in places where your customers are most likely to see them.

However, to be truly successful at Facebook advertising, you need to have a clear strategy, know your target audience, set the right ad budget and bidding strategy, choose attractive ad creatives, and so on. Learning Facebook ads basics and best practices definitely takes time, but your efforts can bring great results to your small business in the long run.

 

With the right strategies and tools in your arsenal, you can run Facebook ads that will make a big difference for your small business and help you thrive in a competitive online market.